In recent weeks I have tried something new – and a bit transgressive. I feel vulnerable, insecure, exposed. When I first tried this new thing, the world suddenly felt like a very dangerous place!
I have thrown myself into barefoot running, and to me, it is a type of reflexology for both body and mind.
The mental reflexology, for me, is about trust. Every barefoot step is a trust exercise with instant feedback from the outside and from the inside.
On my first trip, it was about trusting the world outside of me. Moving forward without full control over, what I could step on.
Today on the trip, what popped up was trust my body. Can I trust that my feet can handle the scars naked against the asphalt, gravel path and grass in the middle of Copenhagen and the city park?
Trust trip with change
While running with a few others guys we joked that barefoot running is a trust exercise where trust is constantly broken. If you can relax a bit and get some rhythm, there is a rock. Much like life in general.
I cannot place one foot in front of the other perfectly and painlessly every time, no matter how much I try and concentrate
I cannot control or predict the right steps. Much is out of my hands no matter what pace I keep
I can experiment, try, listen, cry, cheer …
I can remind myself that fear is excitement without breath
I can focus on relaxing my shoulders, they connect to my feet touching the ground
I can let the inner barefoot child run and maybe tap into playfulness and summer laughter
Barefoot running
The whimsical thing is that movement through life goes by itself, even when I’m running – without shoes.
I move less painfully, more fluidly, easily lightly when I manage to let go and to stop interrupting a process that knows its own way. My feet collaborate so well, when I let them dare to join the trust trip.
If you are curious about barefoot running, I can recommend Peter Hunter – who has patiently introduced me to bare-foot-move-you-slightly-faster-than-walking-pace-1000 meters.
Nota bene: It is hard all the time to maintain trust in yourself – because there are always rocks on the road AND that is why we have each other.